Hermione: Princess of Hyrule
by dormientemdraco
Summary: HP/Legend of Zelda Crossover. Centuries have passed since the events in Twilight Princess, and there's a new evil in Hyrule who wants baby Zelda. Her parents hide her somewhere where she can't be found - England, in Earth. Years later when the war against Voldemort ends, Hermione learns something that changes her life forever: She's the Princess of a different world.
1. Prologue

**This idea popped into my head a few days ago on the bus. I like the idea so far, and I hope you like it too :)**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or Legend of Zelda, nor am I making money from this.

**Warnings:** minor violence and minor language.

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**Prologue**

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" the youngest and newest member of the Royal Knights ran into the courtyard where the King of Hyrule currently sat, smoking a pipe of the Kingdom's finest tobacco. The King sighed, breathing out a plume of smoke. He had thought that Sento had been too young when he knighted the lad, but he needed the boy's service - hardly any Hylians wanted to enlist in the Royal Army anymore.

The King stood up, his pipe in hand, and faced his knight. The boy bowed quickly and waited impatiently for King Robar to give him permission to speak.

"You may proceed," the King nodded curtly.

"Your Majesty! There is a messenger here to speak with you." he swallowed loudly. "A messenger from Zubtera."

King Robar's eyes narrowed. "Is that so?"

Sento nodded his head so violently that the visor on his helmet fell and covered his eyes. He lifted it up again. "He waits outside the entrance hall."

"Allow him in." The King said. Gripping his pipe tightly in his hand, he entered the castle and walked through the tall, wooden doors that led to the entrance hall. It was here that the King and Queen's golden thrones sat, a rich red carpet at their feet and stretching down the hall and stopping at the doors.

Sitting himself in his royal throne, he waited patiently for his guards to let the messenger from Zubtera in, hiding the anxiety that he felt building within him.

The messenger was a short man - not Hylian. His ears were round, not pointed. A mop of brown hair hid his face. He wore the standard clothes that people from Zubtera wore - form fitting black trousers and a long sleeved brown shirt.

"You may proceed, messenger from Zubtera." he called to the man.

Twitching slightly, the messenger took several steps forward. Robar's guards followed his every move.

"Let me guess," King Robar spoke, his blue eyes narrowed slightly at the man's form. "Zoso has sent you to threaten me… again?" He said this nonchalantly, but inside he felt anxious. What did Zoso want this time?

"King Zoso, the great and powerful ruler of the underground Kingdom of Zubtera, wants something that belongs to you, Robar." the messenger's mouth twitched slightly, making King Robar frown. Something was off with this messenger. "And if you do not give him what he wants, he will personally destroy your castle to get it."

At that, the guards looked up sharply at their King, as if waiting for a signal. The King shook his head at them, but gave them a look they understood - stay on alert.

"And what is it exactly that Zoso wants?" King Robar fought the urge to pull at his blond hair.

"Your daughter, Zelda." The messenger grinned a toothy grin, and Robar noted the oddly sharp canine teeth. No, no something wasn't right.

But the King of Hyrule laughed. "Very funny, messenger. Very funny." Only the messenger didn't laugh.

"You think this is a joke?" The messenger's black eyes flashed with something - something that scared Robar. He was scowling at him, looking a lot more fearful than a mere messenger ought to.

"If Zoso really thinks that I'm going to give him my only daughter, then he is very much mistaken." The blond King stated. He nodded at the two guards. "Guards, please escort this messenger from Zubtera out the castle gates."

Before they could take the messenger's arms, great plumes of black smoke rose into the air and hid the short man. Coughing onto their arms, the knights moved away from the smoke. A loud crack sounded and a bright light blinded the guards who tripped over one another and fell into a heap on the red carpet.

In place of the short, brown haired man was a tall, bearded man with a cascade of black curls and bright green eyes. He wore long, black robes. It was the dark wizard, ruler of the Kingdom of Zubtera himself. King Zoso.

He pointed his finger at the knights and a stream of blue light hit them square in the chest. The guards were frozen in place. Turning to look at King Robar, who was now standing, he grinned wickedly. "Are you going to give me your daughter _now_, Robar?"

"Never." the ruler of Hyrule was sweating now. From where he stood he could see a pair of brown eyes staring into the room from behind a door held slightly ajar. His wife, Mara. He motioned discreetly with his hand for the blonde to leave.

But Zoso saw the hand twitch and spun around just in time to see the door close. Smirking at Robar he said, "Hiding something, ey Robar?"

"What could you possibly want from my daughter, Zoso? She's only a few months old for Goddesses sake!" He was trying to buy time - it was obvious, and he knew it.

"It's hard to find a good wife down where I live," Zoso smirked. "Give her a good sixteen years and she'll be perfect for the job."

"You're a sick, twisted man, Zoso." Robar shouted as he took a few steps toward the King of darkness.

The dark haired man held a long fingered hand to his chest and gave the King a smirk. "Oh stop that, Robar, you flatter me so." He snickered at the disdainful look the Hylian gave him.

Before anything else could happen, the doors behind King Robar slammed open. Both Kings turned to look. An older woman with fiery red hair, rough features, and black eyes waved her hand in the direction of the green eyed man. "Petrificus Totalus!" she shouted.

Zoso's arms swung to his side and he fell to the ground, unable to move.

"Adgar, what-"

"There's no time, your Majesty." The witch grabbed the King by the arm and dragged him out of the room. Adgar pulled him past several sets of doors until she stopped. In the dark room stood Mara, Queen of Hyrule. Bundled in Mara's arms was baby Zelda.

"We have to hide the Princess, your Majesty." Adgar said as she made to take the baby out of the Queen's arms.

"What?" The Queen stepped backward, away from the red haired witch. "Surely that isn't necessary?"

"As your Royal Advisor and longtime friend, I implore you to listen to me." Adgar said hurriedly. "Zoso is strong - soon the spell will wear off and he will come looking for Zelda. Give her to me and I can assure you that I'll hide her in a place that Zoso will not find her."

The King and Queen looked at their round eared friend. Adgar was an incredibly powerful witch - but not as powerful as Zoso. She was intelligent and loyal - but she wasn't Hylian. Queen Mara didn't know if she could trust the woman with her only daughter - what if Adgar betrayed them?

But the look in Adgar's eyes told her that no, they would not be betrayed. Reluctantly, Mara held out Princess Zelda to the witch.

Cradling the baby in her arms, she waved her hand and said something that neither the King nor Queen understood. Right as Adgar and Zelda disappeared with a loud _crack,_they heard an explosion from a few rooms away.

Adgar felt nausea hit her forcefully as she appeared on a grassy lawn in the middle of the night. She checked Zelda - she was fine. Looking around the neighborhood Adgar saw the nice large houses and cars that were normal in the human world of Earth. She knew England well enough, for she had lived there for several years before returning to her home in Hyrule. On Earth, humans knew magic that the witches and wizards in Hyrule did not.

Seeing one of the cars roll into the driveway, Adgar hid behind the bushes. Baby Zelda whined quietly.

"I wish we could have adopted one of them today," Sighed a woman with brown hair as she stepped out of the car. She spoke to what Adgar presumed was her husband.

The man nodded. "Soon we'll have a child of our own." he smiled at his wife as he closed the door of the vehicle.

When Adgar heard this, she knew immediately that they were the right ones - why else would the Goddesses guide her right to their front lawn? Adgar believed it to be fate that led her to this couple. She waited for them to go inside their house and then stood up from the bushes. She walked over and knocked on their door.

The woman opened it. Upon seeing the baby in Adgar's arms, Mrs. Granger frowned.

Adgar wasted no time in getting to the point. She held the baby out toward the brown haired woman. "Take her."

"I beg your pardon?" Mrs. Granger looked around, and soon her husband joined her by her side.

"There is no time to explain, I must return to Hyrule immediately. Take her. Take the Princess."

"Princess?" Mrs. Granger's eyebrows rose.

"Now see here-" Mr. Granger started.

Whispering a complex spell, Adgar waved her hand and changed Zelda's straight light brown hair to a bushy mess of hair and her dark blue eyes into a light brown.

When Adgar looked up at the couple they were silent - Mrs. Granger looked pale. "Do not be alarmed, I only changed her appearance. If Zoso somehow manages to track down where I went, he won't be able to tell this is the Princess."

"So-so?" Mr. Granger looked confused.

"Take her!" Adgar insisted. "I heard you saying you wanted a child - take the Princess. Keep her safe."

The Grangers looked at one another. Tentatively, Mrs. Granger reached for the girl.

"But be warned - if you hurt her, you will have the wrath of the Goddesses upon your head, along with my wrath." Adgar said in a warning tone. Mrs. Granger held baby Zelda in her arms and couldn't help but smile as the girl cooed.

"Good." Adgar took a step backward. "I must leave now. Take good care of the Princess, humans. I will return for her soon."

Mr. and Mrs. Granger watched as the woman – witch – walked away. Right when Mrs. Granger was about to call out and ask Adgar what the baby's name was, she was surprised to see her disappear with a loud _crack!_

"Don't worry, Hermione," Mrs. Granger whispered to the Princess of Hyrule, "We'll protect you."


	2. Endings and Beginnings

**Chapter One - Endings and Beginnings**

The sound of multiple stones sliding and falling into place made Hermione Granger's ears hurt and she couldn't help but wince as she guided several stone blocks into the air with her wand. All around her in various places, hundreds of witches and wizards were doing the same with similar expressions on their faces. They were all gathered together, huddled around the Astronomy tower, wands in the air with hundreds of heavy bricks floating weightlessly into the sky and falling haphazardly into place. It was a difficult task rebuilding Hogwarts, especially now that the sun had nearly set, but the castle itself was contributing by rearranging its stones into the proper spots once put into place by the wizards.

Sweat was beading at Hermione's forehead and a stern expression was on her face. She nearly rolled her eyes at the recognizable sound of Ron Weasley to her right swearing as a rogue block of stone knocked into hers, but she didn't want to break her concentration for fear of the rock falling and hurting someone. It was the final part of Hogwarts that needed rebuilding. Witches and wizards who were of age volunteered to help restore the castle, many of them students of the past. Over the course of a month they had managed to get the castle rebuilt, and now on day 32 they were nearly done. Hermione had to fight the sudden rush of emotion that hit her at the thought.

As the final stones were rearranged by the magical castle, Hermione's wand arm fell to her side. A loud hum filled the air and her eyes widened as she felt the magic flood into her body through every pore. Gasps filled the air around her and some took a step backward as the ground rumbled. Then, slowly, the castle began to glow a dull yellow. Seconds later, Hermione shielded her eyes as an incredibly bright golden light encompassed all of Hogwarts. One last mighty quake later, and it all stopped.

Everyone cheered at the sight of Hogwarts restored to its glory. Seeing Harry and Ron wooping and cheering along with everyone else made her heart clench in her chest. Her two best friends in the world probably wouldn't be going back to school with her for their final year, and the thought still made her upset. She was going to lose her best friends.

_Well, I'm not REALLY going to lose them,_ she tried to rationalize. _It's only one more year of school, and we'll still keep in contact. It's not like we'll never see each other again._ She nodded to herself and smiled.

_But what if they don't respond to my letters?_ The frown returned as suddenly as it had disappeared. _What if they're so busy they don't have time to write back? What if I'M so busy I can't respond to their owls?_ She unconsciously began to bite her bottom lip. _What if we grow apart?_

A sudden rush of emotion filled Hermione, and she ran over to Ron and Harry and embraced them tightly.

"Whoa, Hermione!" Harry chuckled at the unexpected display of affection.

"Don't squeeze me so hard, I'm not a bloody lemon, Hermione." Ron grumbled, his ears beginning to turn red.

"Oh Ronald," she pulled back from them and lightly shoved the red head's chest. In response, he gave her a goofy bashful grin that both melted her heart and pained her. Once she went back to school, their relationship would be on hold until after she graduated. Sure, they'd still see each other during the holidays, but it wasn't going to be the same. _Oh, why does Ron have to be so stubborn about not finishing school?_

Hermione bit back her tongue from saying her thoughts aloud - they had had enough arguments over the fact already. _Hah. We just became a couple and we've already had three arguments. Lovely._

Not wanting the others to see the emotion in her eyes, she turned around to face the castle. It gleamed in the light, inspiring awe to everyone around. It was a treasure chest filled to the brim with the precious treasure of knowledge, friendship, and magic. Just like that, all her negative thoughts and feelings vanished.

"Isn't it incredible?" Hermione breathed.

"It sure is, Hermione." Harry said as he stood between Hermione and Ron. "It sure is."

"May I have everyone's attention please?" The strong voice of Professor McGonagall boomed, making the trio swiftly turn and point their wands at the offending noise. Realizing who it was, they put their wands away.

Standing with her back against the Astronomy tower, Professor McGonagall faced the crowd of witches and wizards. Pointed at her mouth was her wand, allowing her voice to be heard by all in the vicinity.

"Do I have everyone's attention?" She paused slightly as the crowd responded with a loud 'yes!' before continuing on.

"I believe that a Thank You is in order to each and every one of you who volunteered to help restore Hogwarts to its former glory. Now that the castle has been rebuilt and restored, there is only the problem of hiring new faculty members, and rehiring old ones. Anyone who wishes to apply for the position of Hogwarts Professor may pick up an application at my office and turn it in before July 1st.

"Once again, on behalf of the wizarding community of Britain, I thank you for contributing to the rebuilding of Hogwarts. May it stand strong for another thousand years."

As Professor McGonagall ended her brief speech, twilight set upon them. Being late, and their work now done, the crowd of people slowly began to thin until only a few people remained, Hermione being one of them. She strolled slowly through the grass, her face drawn and tired. Her mind began to wander and soon she was thinking about her parents, still in Australia.

_I'll have to get a portkey as soon as possible now that things are returning to normalcy. Or would it be easier to make my own? No, it's not allowed to create an unauthorized portkey. But the Ministry didn't know about the unauthorized portkey the Order created…_

Hermione was startled out of her thoughts when she bumped into a tall, hard object.

"Oh, pardon me!" She apologized, taking a step back.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Before she could react to the sight in front of her, a strong hand grasped her wand arm so tightly she thought it was going to break. Long, black nails pressed into her skin, nearly drawing blood. Hermione reached for her wand, but the hooded man snatched it from her.

"Ah, ah, ah!" He wagged a long finger at her as he stashed her wand into his robe pocket. "That's cheating, my dear."

Even though his face was shrouded with darkness thanks to the hood, Hermione could clearly see his round, bright yellow-green eyes that seemed to nearly glow in the night. Curls of black hair spilled out of his hood and went down almost past his chest. She could see the shine of his slightly pointed teeth as he leered at her.

"Now, let's take a look-see shall we?" He giggled softly in contrast to harshly turning her arm so that he could see the back of her hand. Hermione began screaming for help and attempted to kick the man, but he pointed a long nailed finger at her mouth and a beam of blue light hit her. She was completely frozen except for her eyes, which stared at him in terror. _What do I do now?_ She wondered fearfully.

"That ought to teach you a lesson," he smirked at her from beneath the hood. "No one messes with the King."

He looked at the back of her hand again and frowned. Hermione glanced at her hand and then at the shadowed face. _There isn't anything of interest on my hand! Why is he looking there?_

"The symbol… the symbol… where's the damn symbol?" He muttered to himself in growing frustration as he checked both her hands. "The symbol must be-" He stopped in mid-sentence and Hermione saw him eyeing her chest.

"Aha!" he exclaimed with glee, clapping his hands together like an excited child. "I knew it! I knew it!"

His actions were disturbing Hermione more and more by the minute. She wished she had left with Ron and his family when he had invited her over. But no, she wanted to 'clear her mind'. Hermione mentally gasped as the wizard grabbed at her chest and ripped off her necklace. _Noo, not the necklace mum and dad gave me!_ Her mind protested.

"I'll just take that!" He giggled gleefully before placing the necklace into the pocket of his robes. Turning to look at her he pouted, "Oh, don't give me that look, sweet pea," he pinched her cheek with a smirk, "You'll get to kick and scream and cry again before you know it."

Hermione gave him the darkest look she possibly could even though she couldn't move her eyebrows into a glare. She found her mind screaming in protest once again when the wizard lifted her up with one arm. In his other hand she saw him grasping a rock of some sort. Then he yelled some strange Latin like words she'd never heard before.

There was a loud cracking sound and Hermione felt herself be taken away from her home, and there was nothing she could do about it.

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**A big thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I really appreciate your comments and you've motivated me to continue this story!**


	3. Trapped

**Chapter Two - Trapped**

When Hermione's feet touched the ground, she felt relief rush through her body. The feeling of being squeezed into a speck of dust and hurtled through the universe before being stretched back into the correct shape and size was horrible enough for a few seconds, but this apparition seemed to go on for hours. The nausea was so intense, she thought she would hurl up her entire stomach. She tried to move but found she was still frozen in place. Her eyes squinted, adjusting to the light, and what she saw made her eyes widen.

They appeared to be in a cave of sorts, but on the limestone walls were what appeared to be lanterns. Glancing at the ground, she saw a royal blue carpet draped over a long stretch of the floor. It was unusually bright for being the inside of a cave, and the appearance of an unusual goblin-like creature made Hermione even more confused and scared as to her whereabouts.

"We're here,_ Princess_!" Hermione's tall captor spoke in a chipper voice that made her want to hex him.

"Come along, dear!" he snickered, his glowing eyes leering at her. At the strange blue goblin, he said, "Fossie, get the pen ready. My little _Princess_ here is going to need a place to stay."

"Yes, your majesty."

Fossie the goblin bowed and nodded at the man and skedaddled down the carpeted floor away from Hermione. _Ugh I wish he'd stop calling me Princess… Wait, did that goblin just say "Your Majesty?" And what did he mean by getting the pen ready? What's going on?_ The feeling of hovering above the ground interrupted her train of thought and she began to panic a bit. Her eyes looked upward and locked with yellow-green orbs that watched her with an intensity that made the hairs at the back of her neck stand on end. His finger pointed at her, he made a motion for her to follow and she felt her body float after him.

"Sorry about the mess," he said in an airy voice. Hermione watched from behind as he took the hood off his head and flipped his hair with a hand. On the top of his head was a small, silver headpiece with shining blue jewels adorning it.

"It's hard to keep caves tidy, especially with these goblins loving to be covered in _filth_." Hermione could just picture the Malfoy-esque sneer on the wizards face and if she weren't so scared she would've rolled her eyes.

"Ah, here we are my dear. Home sweet home!" The wizard outstretched his arms and twirled around.

Her eyes darted around the room. The tunnel they were in had opened up to a large cavern, and on the opposite sides of the room she could see three other tunnels going off into different directions. There was a large, purple and blue rug on the cavern floor with intricate golden embroidery that surprised her with its beauty - it seemed so out of place. Gas lanterns lined the limestone walls with portraits and paintings hanging in between them. There were some stalagmites poking up from the ground in a few places, mostly by walls of the cave, and long, astounding stalactites hung from the mile high ceiling. She could even see some chandeliers hanging from the limestone stalactites. It would have been awe inspiring were the situation different.

"Now," his voice startled her into looking at him. He walked over to her until he was just a few inches away, making Hermione feel very uncomfortable.

"I'm going to let you go. But," he held up a finger, "If you attempt to attack me or escape, I'm going to have to punish you." He spoke in a soft and gentle manner, but she could hear the underlying threat and see the maliciousness in his eyes as he grinned toothily. "Got it, _Princess_?"

Hermione tried to nod but couldn't. The wizard King's grin grew broader and he giggled. A stream of blue light exited his finger and hit her square in the chest. Almost immediately she fell onto her knees, hands on the ground and arms shaking. Hearing the wizard giggle again her head snapped upwards and she glared at him.

"Who are you, and why have you brought me here?" Hermione spat, brown eyes scalding.

At that, the wizard began laughing hysterically. He seemed so amused by her question that he was doubled over holding his midsection as he pealed out high pitched snorts and giggles. It made Hermione want to strangle him, but she knew that would be incredibly stupid to do. Instead she took the moment to scan her environment, trying to determine the best way to escape the cavern she was held hostage in.

_If I can get my wand back… but he knows wandless magic and I only know how to do a few spells wandlessly and they're useless in this situation… Where are we anyway? How am I supposed to get back home if I don't know where I am?_ Her train of thought was disturbed as a hand roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her up from the ground. She felt her legs wobble in protest as she attempted to stand on her own.

"Oh, you are a funny one aren't you, my sweet?" he wiped an imaginary tear from his eye and grinned at her. "Acting like you don't know how important you are. False modesty doesn't become you, Zelda."

Hermione's eyebrows rose at the name he called her. _Zelda? Oh Merlin's beard is this man an idiot, mistakenly kidnapping the wrong person._

"I'm afraid you've made a terrible mistake, because I'm not Zelda. My name is Hermione!" She said through gritted teeth._ I better watch my tone... With how unstable he seems to be, being overly rude might make him snap_, she thought.

To her dismay and utter annoyance, he only chuckled again.

"Very funny, Princess, very funny. Whoever kept you hidden all these years must've had an incredible sense of humour, that's for sure." He went to pinch her cheek, but Hermione dodged his hand.

She saw his eyes flash and gasped when he roughly gripped her face with his free hand, nails pressing into her skin. The sudden change in his disposition startled Hermione, as did the demented look in his yellow-green eyes.

"Careful, Princess. You're treading in murky waters, here." He growled, squeezing her jaw and wrist so tightly that she was certain there would be bruises the next day. _If I even survive the next day_, the thought passed through her head.

He tapped his pointer finger on her cheek, the threat of wandless magic being used against her all too apparent.

"Now," he let go of her face only to grab her other wrist. Hermione decided against struggling, not wanting to be immobilized once more. "You've got a decision to make here, my dear Zelda. I really hope you aren't the indecisive type, because I'm very, _very_ impatient. Do you agree to be my Princess, in which case you'll be staying in a very luxurious royal chamber just waiting for your arrival? Or do you decline the offer and wish to stay in a more, ah, unpleasant place?"

"I told you, I'm NOT Zelda!" She said in exasperation. "You've got the wrong girl! Won't you let me go?" Hermione tried pulling her wrists out of his grasp, but he only tightened his grip. For a rather thin man, his strength was surprising.

"Nice try, _Zelly_," he drawled. "But I know for a fact that I'm not mistaken. You see," he let go of her left wrist and reached into the pocket of his robe.

She made her move. Taking advantage of the moment, Hermione used all of the strength she had and punched the wizard in the face. He stumbled over backwards in surprise, letting go of her other arm to touch his jaw.

"Accio wand!" Hermione shouted, outstretching her arm toward the wizard King. She could see the wand begin to peak out from the pocket of his black robes and hope began to bubble within her.

But before her wand could fly into her hand, the wizard swiped it in midair.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Hermione tried her hand at wandless magic, but it was useless. Those few precious seconds she had to escape were wasted on a futile attempt to immobilize the dangerous wizard, and he had used that time to break her wand in half. The sound of the wood snapping echoed in Hermione's mind and she felt the colour drain from her face. She was frozen in shock. By the time she recovered, it was too late to escape.

"Stupid, stupid, STUPID!" Hermione muttered to herself angrily as she felt her wrists and legs being bound together by ropes that were conjured wandlessly by the wizard King. He swaggered over to her, a lazy smile on his face, holding the broken wand in one hand and her necklace in the other.

"Oh, Zelly, you disappoint me. I was expecting so much more from you." He feigned disappointment as he waved the broken wand in front of her face. Hermione smirked slightly at the sight of his busted and bleeding lip. "I can only assume from that little gift you gave me that you're declining the offer to be my Princess?" He raised a black eyebrow in question.

"If you really think I would ever willingly be your Princess, then you're delusional." She said in defiance.

She saw the flash of anger in his eyes as they went a shade darker, but it passed as soon as it came. His head bowed and he chuckled throatily before lifting his head toward the ceiling.

"Ahh, I was afraid you were going to say that." He smirked at her. Turning toward the tunnel they came through he snapped his fingers and yelled, "VILEEP! QUEEGAL!" at the top of his lungs.

Hermione winced at the volume of his voice and tried to turn around when she heard the sound of little feet pattering against the limestone floor. Turning her head at an uncomfortable angle her frown deepened at the sight of two even uglier blue goblins entering the cavern.

"Yes, your evilness?" They asked in unison in their gravelly voices as they bowed deeply.

"Take the Princess to the pen. It should already be prepared, I believe. If not, teach Fossie a little lesson, hmm?" He grinned.

"Yes, King Zoso!"

They bowed again before rushing over to Hermione. Her nose crinkled involuntarily as their pungent odor overwhelmed her senses and she protested as they each grabbed an elbow from behind her and began dragging her away.

"Let go of me! Let GO!" She struggled to undo the ropes that tightly bound her wrists and legs, trying to find a weakness somewhere, anywhere. As the goblins dragged her in the direction of a tunnel, the cavern echoed with King Zoso's singing.

"I've got the Princess in captivity,

For she wants nothing to do with me.

Zelda my dear, why must you be

So mean and cruel when I love thee.

Oh, who needs love when in my hand,

I have proof that you're Princess of the land.

The symbol of the Triforce stands

In this here necklace,

How very reckless,

Of you to let this

King steal it, don't you understand?"

Even as the goblins dragged her into the tunnel, she could still hear his singing over the sound of herself struggling against the ropes.

"The King and Queen sent you away,

When you were just a wee little babe,

Although your name and face they changed

This royal necklace gives you away."

His laughter echoed in the tunnel until it gradually disappeared. As she was dragged through the dark, dirty passageway the song the King sang repeated in her mind. _My necklace… what is the Triforce? Does that refer to the triangles? Could he be…No! He's mistaken. I'm not Zelda, and I'm definitely not a princess. My parents are muggle dentists, not a King and Queen. He's mental._

As they progressed through the tunnel she absentmindedly tried to escape the bind of the ropes while her mind rapidly went over everything that had just happened in the past hour. Her face was scrunched in concentration – and from the smell of the goblins – as she thought and thought about a means to escape the King's underground palace. Every plan that she came up with came back to one very important tool: her wand. Without it, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to make it out alive. _Would King Zoso kill me?_ She wondered.

"'Ere!" One of the goblins grumbled.

Hermione swiveled her head around, trying to see where "ere" was. She squeaked in surprise when she hit the floor, the goblins having let go of her elbows. Looking up, she saw a large wooden door, and at eye height there was a small window with iron bars. A shiver went up her spine at the thought of being locked inside a dark cell.

"In the pen, you go!" The goblin with a wooden peg leg lifted her up while the other opened the door.

"No! NO!" She felt herself being pushed into the dungeon by two pairs of disgusting blue hands. Still wrapped up in the ropes, she fell face first onto the hard surface. She felt tiny pebbles and rocks press into her skin and she was sure a few were embedded in there. Turning her head weakly, she felt blood trickle from her nose and her forehead felt wet. All she could see in the doorway were two dark shadows and a gas lamp illuminating the tunnel behind them.

"Enjoy your stay, _Princess Zelda_." A goblin snickered while the other slowly began to shut the door.

"Nooo…" Hermione groaned as the sliver of light gradually disappeared. The final sound she heard was the _click_ of the door locking in the darkness behind her. Her nose was damaged and bleeding, leading her to breathe out of her mouth. She felt her eyes growing heavy as sleep threatened to steal away her consciousness. The witch tried to fight it, tried to stay awake, but she soon fell victim to the sandman and entered dreamland, where she had nightmares of stinky lemons with gravelly voices and evil gas lanterns with glowing yellow-green eyes.

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**Special thanks to these people for still following:** Pirates16103, TsukiyoTenshi, pococo, shygirl2009, mh21, WaffelWollust, ColtBrony, Idoloni, ivy-pond, BlkMagesbarbie, sassay, BeastsRose23, noodleloverxDDD, 6tailedninja, MackC03, gemini-rose16, chained2love, UnattainableDarkAngel, SilverMarkings, 88556622G, Nintendomadd, lolajohnson94, TheBadassLink, unexpected sabotage, Naron Daylane, shakia-illanious09, killer4853, jallison099, zeldafanatic0555 **and my newest follower** Battlewraith18.


	4. Meet Your Cellmate

**Chapter Three - Meet Your Cellmate**

It took a lot of effort for Hermione to lift open her eyelids, and when she did all she could see was blackness. Panic and fear coursed through her body when she tried to move her arm, which had fallen asleep, but found that she couldn't. Everything that had happened the day before flashed through her mind. She couldn't stop the tears of frustration from brimming in her eyes, nor could she wipe the salty liquid trail off her right cheek.

Her stomach growled, reminding her of the fact that she hadn't eaten in over fourteen hours, and she let out a moan. _Now what do I do?_ She thought dismally.

"Hungry?"

Hermione swerved her head toward the sound of the voice, but no matter how she strained her eyes she could see nothing but blackness.

"Who's there?" She asked, hoping that the nervousness she felt couldn't be heard through her voice. Annoyance prickled at her as she once again tried and failed to undo the restraints on her wrists. Realizing she was in a rather vulnerable position, she tried her best to scoot as far away from the direction of the person – man? – as possible.

"I asked you a question first." The man said.

It was silent in the cell for a few beats as Hermione tried to decide how best to answer, or if she should answer at all. _What if he's a spy of Zoso's? Is he tied up? Could he hurt me?_ She bit her bottom lip unconsciously as she thought. _Give him the benefit of the doubt, Hermione! What if he's a good person? The enemy of a vile, evil wizard like him must be decent, right?_

With a sigh she said, "Yes, I haven't eaten all day, I'm very incredibly hungry." She said all in a rush and with an air of indifference. "Now it's my turn. Who are you?"

Silence entered the atmosphere. Hermione stared into the darkness ahead of her in the direction of the faceless man, and with every passing minute she grew more and more irritated at the lack of response. A few minutes seemed to have gone by when Hermione finally burst out, "I've answered your question already; it's awfully rude to demand an answer and then not give one yourself!"

Almost immediately she felt stupid for losing her cool. _Great going Hermione, you've gone and annoyed him! What if he turns out to be a vengeful psychopathic serial killer? What then?_

"The goblins tossed us a platter of food about an hour ago," His voice startled her out of her thoughts. "–you were still passed out –and I saved this apple for you."

"Oh!" Hermione was surprised. "That's very kind of you."

"Well, I'm not entirely sure I should give it to you, to be honest." He admitted.

The witch frowned. "What?" It was quiet for a few seconds and then, "Why not?"

"Please don't be offended, but uh," he hesitated. "I don't know if I can trust you."

"You don't trust me to give me an apple?" She asked in exasperation and offense.

She could almost hear the shrug as he said, "More or less."

Hermione huffed. Under her breath she said, "I cannot _believe_ this." But he heard her.

"You expect me to wholeheartedly trust you?" He asked in incredulity. "How do I know you're not a servant of Zoso?"

"A servant of that abhorrent, vile man?" She could feel her temper begin to flare at the mention of her kidnapper. "Not in this or any other lifetime." Hermione snorted.

"...So you're not working for him?"

"No." Hermione said with feeling.

The silence that occurred after that was nearly deafening as the stranger seemed to digest her words. Carefully, the witch managed to fix herself into a somewhat sitting position on her knees. She didn't want to be in a vulnerable position around the stranger. For a few moments she closed her eyes, gathering her strength. Then, she attempted once more to do wandless magic. She whispered a conjuring spell, trying her best to envision a blade or a knife of some sorts to cut the ropes with.

"Brilliant." She whispered in frustration at the lack of knife in her hand. To make matters worse, her stomach began growling again, reminding her of the fact that there was an apple in the cell that she was probably _not_ going to get.

"You're a witch?" The man's voice was surprised.

"I-uh-I" she sputtered, realizing her mistake. She revealed herself as a witch! _But how did he know that I was saying a spell?_ Her eyebrows furrowed at the thought.

"You were trying to conjure something." He exclaimed, sounding excited at the thought rather than angry or scared like she was expecting.

"Yes, how did you know?" Her voice rising steadily as she spoke. _Is he a wizard, too?_

"Are you just learning spells?" His voice seemed to be closer than it was before, putting Hermione on edge. She shuffled backward awkwardly until her feet hit a wall. _  
_

"No! What would make you assume that?" She found herself offended again. _And how did he go from being wary of me to trusting in under two minutes?_

"Whatever you tried to conjure didn't appear. You must be a new learner, right?"

"Wha- No! How do you know so much about magic?" Hermione shot a suspicious look in his general direction, wishing that she could see the man.

"Oh, I can do magic, too." He said nonchalantly. "But how is it that you can't do a basic conjuring spell if you're not a beginner? That doesn't make sense." From the tone of his voice Hermione gathered that he was genuinely puzzled and not purposely trying to put her down.

She huffed, "You make it sound like wandless magic is some easy feat."

A pause.

"Isn't it?"

She stared long and hard at the figure ahead of her. "No," she said slowly. "Wandless magic is difficult – only very powerful witches and wizards are capable of doing magic without wands."

There was silence in the cell again, which Hermione was beginning to get used to. For a few moments the only sounds she could hear was breathing. There was some muttering by her cell mate and an unexpected _pop_ made her flinch. Seconds later, she felt something cold and hard being pressed into her hand by warm humanoid fingers.

"Careful with the blade – it's very sharp." He whispered, as if afraid someone or something may overhear him. "I would do the honors, but since it's so dark… I don't want to make a mistake."

Hermione gripped the knife awkwardly in her right hand, cautiously trying to angle it in a way that would cut the ropes without slicing herself. She paused suddenly as her mind raced _Does he have a wand? He conjured this so easily… There's no way he could do wandless magic – what're the odds that I'd bump into two incredibly powerful wizards in one day? And…_

"Wait a minute!" She frowned. "If you could conjure a knife so easily in this place, why not conjure something to break down the door? Or better yet, why not just disapparate?" The knife escaped her grip and clattered onto the stone floor.

"Shh! Not so loud, there could be goblins outside the cell." He said in a loud whisper. "And to answer your questions, I already TRIED to get out of here. I tried a fire spell to burn down the door, but it just bounced right off." He paused. "Sorry about your hair."

"WHAT?" Hermione's eyes bulged as she swiveled her head around, pointlessly trying to get a look at her hair in the dark.

"Hey! Hey, calm down! I was just kidding!" Hermione felt a hand touch her hand, and rather than jerk away from it like she thought would be her reaction, she felt herself relax.

"That wasn't funny." She frowned, but her lip twitched. _No, don't laugh! That was a terrible joke._

"I'm sorry. It was just a joke… a bad one, I admit." His voice was sheepish. "But the point is, I tried every spell I knew against the door, I tried to disapparate, I even conjured an axe and tried to chop the door to pieces but nothing worked." She heard and felt his frustration. "Zoso must've put some wards on this cell. I can do magic in here, I just can't do any damage to this prison." He sighed.

"Brilliant." Hermione sighed. "Couldn't you at least conjure a lamp or light? I would if I could, but…"

"Oh, right, sure." She heard him shuffle away from her and he muttered quietly to himself. Suddenly, a white light brightened the cell, and Hermione had to squeeze her eyes shut at the intensity of it. For a while, all she could see was the redness of her inner eyelids, but the light eventually dimmed so that she could actually open her eyes and look around.

Squinting, the first thing she saw was the sharp, small blade on the grey stone floor inches away from her knees. She blinked a few times, allowing her eyes time to adjust to the light. Slowly, she tilted her head upward until she made eye contact with a surprisingly attractive man with astonishing blue eyes and golden blond hair. In his hand was a ball of blue-white light that swayed and flickered like the flame of a candle.

_Definitely not what I expected,_ she thought to herself.

"Thank you. I was getting tired of straining my eyes only to see nothing." She gave him a shy, cautious smile.

"I'm sorry I didn't think about that sooner." He replied, a sheepish grin lighting up his face. "Don't know what I was thinking."

Hermione chuckled a little then looked down at the knife by her knees. Now able to see, she carefully grabbed the handle of the blade with her hands and resituated herself so that she could cut at the ropes binding her legs together. It didn't take much time until the brown rope was sliced, and Hermione sighed in relief as she stretched out her legs. She looked up at her cell mate, a question on the tip of her tongue.

"Could you-?"

But he seemed to already know what she was going to ask and outstretched his hand. Hermione placed the knife into his palm and he cautiously cut the rope binding her wrists together. Not five seconds later did the rope fall onto the stone floor. She sighed loudly in content as she flexed her hands, eyebrows furrowed slightly at the red marks on her wrists.

"Thank you." She smiled graciously at him.

"You're welcome… uh?"

"Hermione. Hermione Granger." She held out her hand. He shook it.

"You're welcome, Hermione, Hermione Granger." He said playfully.

"And you are…?"

"Oh! Link. My name is Link."

"It's nice to meet you, Link."

"Likewise."

There was an awkward pause as Hermione's stomach roared loudly.

"Link…"

"…Yes?"

"Could I please have that apple now?"

Before Link could respond there was a loud click and the door of their cell creaked open.

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**Thank you **Superactor, zeldafanatic0555** and **BeastsRose23** for your reviews on the previous chapter. Also thanks to **Superactor** for following!**

**************I'd really really like some feedback on this chapter, please! Thanks!**


	5. The Homorphus Charm

**Chapter Four - The Homorphus Charm**

"Oi! Wot's goin' on 'ere?" the goblin looked from Hermione to Link and then at the ropes on the ground. "Ow'd you get out of 'em, then?" He grumbled at Hermione.

"I-uh," she squeaked.

"I undid them for her." Link said defiantly at the goblins, glaring at them. Hermione was temporarily surprised by the dark look in his clear, sky blue eyes.

"Did you, then?" the creature scowled then scratched his bald, blue head. "Goin' to have to tell the King of this, I am." Slowly the goblin grinned, exposing his rotten, pointed teeth. "'e'll love that."

Hermione flinched when the goblin made a move toward her. "Get up, then. 'is royal 'ighness wants to see you." His gravelly voice made her skin crawl and when his calloused, rough hand grabbed her sore wrist she gasped.

He pulled her roughly off the ground and she nearly stumbled into another goblin that appeared from behind the door. She heard the sound of the cell door slam shut and the click of the lock.

"'ello, Princess." He laughed and gripped her arm tightly. "Didja have a nice little nap in your royal chamber?"

"Oh, I bet she did, Hyrnat. Right on 'er royal bed."

Both goblins cackled as Hermione tried to kick and punch them. When her foot connected with one of the goblin's legs, she yelped in pain – it felt like she kicked a wall.

Hyrnat laughed. "You see that, Queegal? She tried to kick me, she did."

Queegal grabbed her other arm. "Did she?" Together the blue creatures pulled the witch down the gas lamp lit tunnel. "What'd it feel like?"

"Felt like she'd gone and tickled me or sumfing."

"Where are you taking me?" Hermione yelled over their cackling, continuing to struggle against their strong hold on her.

"To see the King, of course." Queegal sneered at her. "I thought I already told you that. Didn't I tell 'er, Hyrnat?"

"Course. 'eard you with me own ears, I did."

Hermione ignored the goblins as they continued to chortle and grumble among themselves. She scanned the tunnels for any sign of an exit or escape route, but saw none. Eyebrows furrowed, she tried to remember how they had entered the cave in the first place. When she remembered, she felt her heart sink into her stomach. _He apparated directly into the cave. I have no clue how to get out of here… _She shook herself a bit._ No, Hermione. Don't give up. You've gone through worse than this. This is nothing compared to fighting Death Eaters. You can do this._

The little pep talk she gave to herself seemed to do the trick, and when the goblins dragged her into the blue carpeted cavern, she didn't feel as nervous as she had felt before. Her chin was thrust out in defiance and her brown eyes glared into the King's yellow-green glowing orbs with a look of pure loathing. King Zoso grinned toothily at her.

"Sleep well, my little sweet pea?" He cooed from his royal throne, legs crossed and hands clasped on his lap. The wizard laughed before jumping out of his seat and bounding over toward her, his black cloak flowing after him. He stopped an inch in front of her face, teeth bared in an eerie smile. Hermione fought the urge to spit on him. The goblins still held her arms tightly behind her back, so she couldn't slap him either, much to her disappointment.

"Well? You going to answer me, my Princess?" he asked as he trailed a long finger across the dried blood on her face from her fall the night before.

When Hermione refused to answer, the King clicked his tongue. She saw his eyes begin to darken and narrow.

"I. Slept. Well." She said through gritted teeth.

He patted her cheek playfully, "I'm so glad to hear that. Although I must say, you could've had a much better night of rest had you made a better decision yesterday." He smirked before taking a step backward and turning around.

"Yes, Zelda, I'm afraid that until you choose to be mine, hard stone floors are all you'll have to look forward to." He gave her a look over his shoulder, eyes flickering.

"I already told you," Hermione snapped, "I'm not Zelda and I never have been and never will be your Princess."

His laughter only seemed to fuel her anger more. King Zoso sauntered over to her, in his hand she saw her necklace.

"This," he swung it in front of her face, "Is PROOF that you're of royal lineage."

Seeing the look of confusion pass her face, he sighed in annoyance.

"Let me break it down for you. See this? Tell me what this is." He pointed at her necklace. She stared at the three small golden triangles, trying to figure out the significance of it. _All it is is three triangles! What does that have to do with royalty of any kind?_

She frowned at Zoso and said, "It's just a pyramid of triangles."

Zoso gave her a hard look. Then he slapped her across the face. Hermione gasped in shock, then looked daggers at the King.

"I don't appreciate your smart remarks, Zelly." He barked at her, his eyes dark. After taking a few deep breaths, the King spoke again calmly. "This is the symbol of the Triforce." He gave her a significant look.

Hermione remained silent.

"The Triforce," he tried again, emphasizing the word. This only served to confuse Hermione more. _Am I supposed to know the significance of that word? Does it mean something? I don't remember ever reading about that…_

The feeling of a hand grasping her jaw tightly brought her out of her thoughts.

"DON'T act like you don't know what the Triforce is, Zelly!" He spat, getting spittle on her face. She heard the goblins snicker slightly from behind her. Hermione was starting to feel slightly intimidated by the crazed look in his eyes. _A bit disconcerting, but nowhere near as frightening as Voldemort…_ she told herself, trying to keep perspective on the situation.

"I'm afraid I don't understand." She said innocently.

Zoso scowled, letting go of her face. Hermione thought she saw a look of doubt cross his fair features. _Does he realize now that he kidnapped the wrong girl?_ But that thought dissipated when the King suddenly began laughing hysterically. His unsettling hyena like laugh combined with the sandpaper like chuckles of the goblins made her skin crawl.

"Aha, ha, I can't BELIEVE – AHA." He squealed with mirth. When his laughter began to subside, he wiped a tear from his eye. "Your, ah, _parents_ never told you, did they?" He smirked.

Hermione felt herself stiffen. This appeared to be all the answer Zoso needed.

"Oh, this – this is RICH." He laughed again, twirling himself around with merriment. "Sooo deliciously rich."

"I don't see what's so amusing." Hermione finally snapped, unable to hold back her tongue.

"You don't?" He raised an eyebrow. "You don't see the humour in your 'parents' failing to tell you that they are, in fact, not your parents?" He took a step toward her. "You don't see what's so amusing about how a pair of nobody PEASANTS could raise the Princess of Hyrule in a world where Hyrule does not exist?"

"Hyrule?" The word felt strange on her tongue as she spoke it.

"Don't tell me - you don't know where Hyrule is, do you?" He sneered.

All of the questions running through her head must have shown on her face, because Zoso cackled again.

"Zelly, Zelly, Zelly, don't you even know where you are?" He spoke condescendingly. "The Kingdom of Hyrule is on no map that you've ever seen, sweet pea, because it isn't on - oh what do they call it? - ah yes: Earth."

Hermione stared at him in disbelief.

"Still don't _believe_ me, my sweet?" He cooed. "I'll just have to show you."

Zoso snapped his fingers and a blue treasure chest appeared in front of his feet. He opened it up and levitated two glowing blue orbs the size of bowling balls. They floated in the air and began circling around him. Upon closer inspection, Hermione could see patches of green, yellow and white on both orbs. Then it hit her - they were planets.

"See this one here?" The wizard pointed at one and it floated in place before them. There were familiar shapes of green and yellow on this blue orb. "This is your lovely little home, Earth." He gazed at it with contempt. With a flick of his finger, the orb went crashing back into the treasure chest.

"This one," he pointed to the other circling planet. "Is where we are now. Take a look for yourself."

The orb flew toward Hermione until it was just an inch away. It rotated in a similar fashion to that of Earth. She took in the foreign landmasses and watched as the clouds peeled back and symbols that she could not read appeared on the terrain. On a hill next to what appeared to be a lake was a red flashing dot.

"See the dot?" His sudden appearance by her side made Hermione jump a bit. "That's where you are right now." He stepped back and spread his arms wide, "My underground Kingdom of Zubtera!"

"All hail, King Zoso!" The goblins said in unison.

Hermione's lips pursed. "All right, I believe that I'm no longer on Earth. You still have no proof that I'm royalty."

"Ah haha, that's what you think! But I'll prove to you once and for all that you're the Princess of Hyrule." He sent the orb flying back into the chest with a flick of his finger, and made the entire chest vanish.

Grinning that unnerving, toothy grin at her, he pointed his finger at her and shouted. "Homorphia!"

A beam of green light hit Hermione's shoulder and for a moment she felt nothing. But slowly, she began to feel her ears elongate and her face begin to morph. Eyes wide, she watched as her frizzy brown hair became straight and dirty blonde. She felt a cold sensation in her eyes. Then, the feeling stopped.

"What did you do to me?" Hermione shouted in anger and fear.

A mirror appeared in the wizards hand and he wordlessly held it in front of her face.

The sight of her long, pointed ears, blue eyes and slightly finer facial features startled the witch. She knew what spell Zoso had cast. It was the homorphus charm – a spell that made a transfigured object assume its normal shape. _That means…_

"No." She whispered, watching as her reflection made the same movements she did. "It can't be…"

"Oh, but it IS." Zoso finally spoke up, sounding very gleeful. "You know that spell. You know what it means, don't you?"

But Hermione didn't hear him. She was transfixed by the image in front of her. The stranger who mimicked her every move and reflected her every emotion. Her breath hitched in her throat.

Zoso moved the mirror away from her face and crouched down until he was at eye level with Hermione. "It means you're the Princess of Hyrule, my dear."

Slowly, she made eye contact with him. "What do you want with me?" She tried to add some venom to her voice but couldn't muster up the energy to do so - she was too shocked.

"Oh, I don't know," he said airily as he twirled a strand of her now blonde hair. "Maybe I want to keep you around for the sake of… entertainment. Or maybe I want you to be my wife."

When the wizard said 'wife' it seemed to snap Hermione out of her stupor and she glared at the dark haired man with such rage that he looked taken aback for a moment.

She spoke softly at first, but with every word her voice grew louder as she said, "I will never, NEVER be your wife. I'd rather DIE than marry you!"

Hermione took advantage of his surprise and kicked as hard as she could in the groin. He fell onto his knees, moaning in pain. The goblins stupidly went over to the King and tried to help him, giving Hermione the perfect opportunity to make a run for it.

"No, NO, STOP HER." Hermione heard Zoso yell as she sprinted into the tunnel opposite the one she was taken through.

Dashing through the limestone tunnel, Hermione panted, looking every which way for an exit. The gas lamps were nothing but a blur of lights in her peripheral vision as she ran down the blue carpeted cave. Up ahead in the distance she thought she saw a light. Hope bubbled up in her chest and she increased the pace, giving it her all at the thought of possibly getting out of the prison.

"There she is! Get 'er."

Hermione halted in place at the sound of goblins running toward her from the other end of the tunnel. She turned on her heel, which made her pause.

"Brilliant, Hermione, simply brilliant." She smacked the side of her head. She turned on the spot and thought about her home, ready to apparate back to Earth.

But nothing happened.

A severe feeling of disappointment and anxiety washed through her at the sound of the heavy feet getting closer to her. Looking over her shoulder she saw they were less than a meter away. She began running in the opposite direction, unease filling her at the thought of what would happen if she were captured again.

"Oh no you don't." Hermione gasped as she felt a hand grasp her upper arm tightly. Turning around she saw King Zoso glaring at her. "You think you can kick the royal jewels and get away with it, do you Zelly?" He glowered at her as she weakly struggled to get away from him. "Well think again, _dearest_. Fossie and Vileep are going to take you back to your _royal quarters_."

She felt the goblins grip both of her arms with bone crushing strength. The last of her energy sapped from the run, she gave up struggling. _I can't disapparate, can't do wandless magic against the King, and can't find the exit. Why bother struggling?_ Her stomach growled miserably at her, begging for nourishment, making her feel even more glum.

"That's a good girl," Zoso cooed at her and patted her head. "Take her away, boys."

The goblins nodded at their King and Hermione felt them drag her away.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Vileep and Fossie stopped and turned around to face the wizard who walked over to Hermione and tapped her face with a finger. She felt her features go back to normal – _Normal for me, at least._

He smiled at her, pinching her cheek. "Don't want the peasant to know too much, do we? I would've put him in a different cell but… we have no other cells!" Zoso giggled at his own joke.

Fossie and Vileep began to turn when Zoso spoke again. "And one more thing! Punish the peasant boy for taking the ropes off the Princess."

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**A big thanks to my new followers:** 93dbe, Mymine, **and** elis21**!**** Also thanks to** zeldafanatic0555, mh21, BeastsRose23, UnattainableDarkAngel, **and** Superactor** for reviewing the previous chapter!**


	6. A Pact

**Chapter Five - A Pact**

Hermione mindlessly played with the apple core in her hand, brown eyes staring at the wooden door. The goblins had taken Link from the cell after shoving her unceremoniously back into the limestone prison. She felt her thumb sink into the core and juice ooze out from the last remains of the fruit. Her stomach no longer growled, finally satiated, but Hermione's mind felt guilt. _Why did I let him take the blame?_

_You didn't know they were going to punish him, Hermione, _she chastised herself. Her lips slowly turned downwards into a frown_. Or should I say…Zelda?_ The apple core fell out of her grasp at that thought and rolled onto the dirty floor. Her hands trembled slightly as she placed them on her lap. _If he had only done the spell wordlessly, I wouldn't know for sure that I'm…_

She felt an overwhelming need to cry or yell rising within her, but she didn't dare let anything escape, for fear the goblins might overhear and tell Zoso. King Zoso. _And I'm a Princess… They lied to me… my life was a lie..._

Her ears pricked up at the sound of footsteps and yells in the distance. She quickly wiped away the tear that had managed to leak from her eyes and regained composure. Just as she leaned against the prison wall did the door open.

"-an' let that be a lesson to you, peasant boy!" a goblin shouted as Link stumbled and fell to the ground. The blond wizard yelped as he landed awkwardly on top of his arm.

"No fraternizing with the girl!" another one yelled. With a final grunt, the door slammed shut and was locked, darkness falling upon them again.

They waited until the sound of the goblins' heavy feet receded before Link conjured a ball of blue-white light. The flickering ball floated to the ceiling of the cave, illuminating the entire cell. Link slowly moved into a sitting position, holding his arm with a wince.

"Are you hurt badly?" Hermione asked, leaning close to him. There were already bruises forming on his face, his left eye particularly, and she was sure there were more beneath his clothes. His cheek had a red gash in it, and a streak of blood dribbled from his forehead. He tentatively put a hand to his head and cringed.

"I think I'll be all right," he gave her a thin smile.

"I'm so sorry," Hermione burst out, "If I had spoken up then the goblins never would've told Zoso and he never would've-"

"Whoa, whoa!" he raised his hands in the air and waved them. "Don't blame yourself, Hermione, you weren't the one who hit me."

He sighed at the obvious look of guilt still on her face. "I swear, I'm fine." He smiled reassuringly at her.

"…Are you positive?" Hermione bit her bottom lip.

"I promise," he chuckled softly.

Hermione relaxed slightly. "If you say so…"

Link closed his eyes and began conjuring things – a small, plain white towel and a tiny green bowl. "Just need to clean up a bit…" Looking down into his bowl, Link held a hand over it and Hermione watched with slight envy as water streamed gently from his palm. _How does he do that so EASILY?_ She thought.

"So you said that where you're from they don't teach wandless magic. Where are you from?" Hermione could hear his puzzlement at the idea.

Hermione bit her lip. _Should I tell him? Does he need to know? If they don't teach magic with wands here in Hyrule then he must know something's up with me if I can't… and he doesn't need to know I'm from another planet..._

"I'm from England." she said slowly, choosing her words carefully. "Where I come from… we've never heard of Hyrule."

"Never?" He sounded surprised.

She shook her head.

"Strange, I've never heard of an England." His head cocked to the side, reminding Hermione of a puppy. "How'd you get here?"

"Zoso kidnapped me and brought me here."

"Oh." He frowned. "I'm sorry."

Hermione nodded, but said nothing. Her eyes were drawn to the white towel, which slowly turned red and pink as Link dabbed his face with it… images of dead loved ones flashed through her head briefly. Bloody and battered bodies scattered along the marble floor of the castle...

"-rn magic where you're from?"

"Huh?" _Did I just have a flashback?_ she shook her head slightly and looked into Link's confused blue eyes. "I'm sorry, what?" Her cheeks flushed briefly, the thought of being caught not paying attention embarrassing her.

"I said, how do you learn magic where you're from?"

"Well, witches and wizards from England go to a school called Hogwarts where they teach us all about different kinds of magic, but they never taught us wandless magic. We always used wands." She paused. "I'd personally find it to be very practical and would love to learn as much wandless magic as I can. I can already do a few easy spells."

"Can you show me what spells you can do?"

"Sure!" Hermione looked around the cell briefly before her eyes settled on the rotting apple core. She extended her hand toward it, mind completely focused on the object, and whispered "Wingardium Leviosa."

Slowly, the apple core floated up into the air, wobbling as it levitated. She turned around and grinned at Link. At the slightly amused look he shot her, she immediately felt foolish for being so proud of her accomplishment._ He can do a wandless aguamenti spell and I'm showing off my mediocre wandless levitation spell? Could that apple core have gone any slower?_

"That's very good, Hermione." Link smiled. Her bitter thoughts immediately drifted away at the complete lack of condescendence in his voice, and she found herself smiling a bit.

Link vanished the bowl and towel to Merlin knew where, and whispered a spell to repair the small cut on his face. Questions twirled through Hermione's mind and burned at her tongue. Soon she could hold herself back no longer and her questions burst out like a leak from a dam.

"Where did you learn how to do wandless magic so well? Who taught you? Did you learn at a school or was it one-on-one? Or did you learn from a book? Do you even have a wand? Could you teach me?"

Hermione nearly laughed at the comical expression on the blond's face. It reminded her so much of the looks Harry and Ron often gave her when she gave long answers to their questions. She repeated her questions, slowly this time around.

"I had a feeling that's what you were going on about." The blond chuckled. "My neighbor taught me."

"Your neighbor?" Hermione encouraged him to elaborate.

Link developed a thoughtful look as he spoke, "Flynn Smithy. Blacksmith, wizard, neighbor, and the father I never had." He chuckled lightly, but his eyes showed sadness and pain. "Flynn taught me all he knew about magic as soon as I started showing signs of magical ability. It was all done in secret, though."

"In secret? Why?"

"Magic is against the law in Hyrule for anyone who isn't royalty." He explained.

"Illegal?" her voice went up an octave in surprise. "Why?"

The blond sighed heavily. "You see, centuries ago there was a wizard who did a lot of damage to Hyrule. His name was Sagul, and he was very powerful. He was the leader of a band of evil witches and wizards who went around terrorizing the Hyruleans. Eventually he was caught and executed by Prince Nyros, who was rumored to be son of the goddess Nayru herself. Unfortunately, the spell Nyros used drained him of his life force, and he died hours later. After that, the King of Hyrule declared that no one other than the Royal family may be allowed to do magic in the Kingdom, and all those who broke the law would be sentenced to execution immediately."

"That's terrible," Hermione said, the Salem witch trials coming to her mind. "Things like that have happened where I come from, too."

"Yeah," he breathed. "Any potions containing magical elements or any magical items, including wands, are immediately confiscated upon sight and destroyed. So for obvious reasons, we no longer use wands. It takes a lot more energy to go without wands, but it's the only way we CAN do magic."

At that, Hermione felt guilty for ever mentally complaining about losing her wand. _He can't even HAVE a wand, let alone use it. It's not out of convenience, it's for necessity. How does he manage to survive in a world that hates magic and wizards?_ She suddenly found herself feeling scared for her life should she escape the underground palace. Would they find out she was magical and execute her, too? _They'd have to catch me, first._

"As for teaching you wandless magic," his voice broke her train of thought. "I'd be happy to help you out, Hermione." He smiled. "You already seem to know the basics of what to do, so it shouldn't be too hard."

"Oh, thank you!" She gushed.

"I must warn you though; it'll take a lot of practice and will be more tiring than if you used a wand."

"I understand."

"Good. Why don't we start now?"

"Now?" she was surprised.

"Well, we have nothing else to do."

What felt like hours passed as Hermione practiced summoning the apple core from around the cell and levitating it without a wand. It was harder than she expected to keep control over the leftover fruit with only her hand. After the hour or so, Link challenged Hermione to keep the apple core afloat while conversing with him. Hermione lost track of how many times the core fell to the ground.

"Oh, this is frustrating!" Hermione growled as the remainder of fruit rolled in the dirty stone floor again. "Stay in the air you atrocious piece of fruit!"

"Easy now, Hermione," Link laughed lightly, "remember what I told you: it takes a lot of practice."

The core floated next to Hermione's face. She managed to keep it in the air while talking for a total of ten seconds before it fell once more. She put a hand to her head and weaved a bit. "Is this supposed to make me feel woozy?"

"That's probably from lack of food," Link sighed. "We may have to stop soon if you're feeling weak. You need to replenish your energy, since wandless magic requires a lot of it."

At Hermione's look of disappointment, Link said, "Hey, you're doing a good job! You've improved greatly with your spellwork already!"

She smiled weakly. "Thanks, Link." She mindlessly rolled the apple core a few feet ahead of her and summoned it. The core flew toward her at double the earlier speed. Slowly a frown formed on her face and she turned to look at the blond.

"Why are you here? What did you do to anger Zoso?"

He fidgeted briefly before running a hand through his golden hair. "Well, uh - it's kind of a long story."

She gave him look and said simply, "I've got time."

"Well…" he sighed. "I was making my way from Farori Village, my home, to Hyrule castle town to make a delivery. I own a bakery see, and uh, normally I don't make personal deliveries, but it was a request from the Queen herself - Queen Tanitha. You don't want to upset Queen Tanitha, she's really… well… she can be a bit frightening."

_Queen Tanitha? Could that be…?_ "Go on," Hermione said, eyes focused on the blond.

"I delivered the cake that she requested - a tall four layer one. You have no idea what a hassle it was getting it over there in one piece," he chuckled briefly. "It was the journey back that got me here."

"What happened?"

"Well, before I got to Hyrule castle I remembered seeing this odd looking kid. He asked me for some of the cake I had, but I told him it was for the Queen and I couldn't give him any. He swore at me and left me alone. I got to the castle early and Queen Tanitha gave me a reward. It was a gold rupee." He smiled down at his hands, as if he envisioned holding it. Hermione figured it must've been worth a lot.

"On the way back, I was in Hyrule field when this same kid ran right at me and knocked me into the ground from behind. He apologized and took off running. I had a hunch something was amiss - his eyes just weren't right. When I checked my pouch, I confirmed my suspicions. He took my gold rupee."

"Oh no!"

Link nodded. "I went after him. That was the most money I've ever made in a day! More than the past three months combined, in fact. I ran after the kid and cornered him. Don't get the wrong idea - I just asked for my money back and I told him I wouldn't tell his parents."

He laughed humorlessly. "That's when he revealed his true form: Zoso. In my shock, he managed to immobilize me. He brought me here via side along apparition. At first he said he was going to kill me, but then he changed his mind, muttering something about "revenge."

"Revenge? Revenge for what? You didn't even do anything to him!" Hermione fumed.

"That's what I don't understand." Link said in frustration. "After that, he had the goblins take me here to this cell. I struggled, but they were too strong. They got annoyed with me and knocked me out." He rubbed the back of his head, wincing in remembrance.

"I woke up to a hard object hitting me in the face. It was an apple. Right when I started to wake, it was too late to escape and the goblins locked the door." He sighed. "I spent the remainder of the time trying all the spells I knew to get out, but nothing worked."

They spent a few moments in silence. Hermione thought about the situation they were in and wondered what would happen to them. "Maybe…" she started. "If we wait for the right moment, we can stun the goblins and run out."

Link shook his head. "I tried stunning them. It doesn't work." He frowned. "When I tried to stun them, the spell just bounced right off a green shield of light that surrounded them."

"They can do magic, too?"

"I don't think so. If they could, they probably would've hexed me… and they would've brought us to the cell by side-along apparition instead of walking us. No, I think Zoso's given them some sort of protection."

"Well, we'll just figure out what's protecting them and destroy it." Hermione said matter-of-factly. "Once we destroy their protection, we can stun them and get out of here." She paused, in thought. "But then, there's the matter of Zoso…"

"He's clever." Link stated. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's found some way to track our movements in case we attempt to escape."

Hermione frowned. "We can't give up, Link. We have to find a way out of here. No, we're GOING to get out of here." _There's no way I'm staying locked in here forever. No. I have to get home. I have to finish school. I have to get mum and da- err… Mr. and Mrs. Granger… No! They're my parents. My real parents. They took care of me and loved me…_

_But if they loved me, why did they lie to me?_

"We can't stay here." She listened for footsteps outside their cell, and hearing none she continued. "We'll make an escape plan. I'll practice my wandless magic until I'm good enough to defend myself. Then, we'll destroy the goblin's protective item and run."

"That's a good plan Hermione." Link said. "Here's a problem. Which way will we run if we don't know the way out of the cave?"

The witch bit her lip in thought before visibly deflating. "I don't know. If there was only a map of the tunnels… but I doubt-"

There was jingling behind the door. Keys. The goblins were muttering to themselves. Link got rid of their light, not wanting the goblins to tell Zoso that they were doing magic in the cell. He didn't want to risk Zoso punishing them for that.

The door creaked open and orange light from the gas lamp on the wall flooded into their prison. Three blue goblins were standing at the threshold, one holding a platter of food, another two mugs, and the third leaned against the door twirling the key.

"'is royal 'ighness ordered us to feed the pris'ners." The one with the plate cackled. "Made with love by the Hylian slaves." He threw the plate onto the floor and it broke into five pieces. One of the two brown loaves of bread rolled into the dirt.

"Sadly, pris'ners need to also be watered." Said the other with the mugs. "If they want to live, that is." Thankfully he didn't toss that onto the ground to be broken as well. He placed the mugs on the floor next to the plate.

"Come on, Vileep, let's get out of 'ere. The stink is startin' to get to me." He chuckled, looking directly at Link who bristled in offense.

"Who're you to say I stink, you putrid sack of-"

"Link!" Hermione grabbed his arm as he made to stand up. "Link, no! It's not worth it." She glared at the goblins. "They're not worth it."

Vileep laughed. "Listen to the lady, peasant. She's got more smarts in her pinky than you've in yer whole body."

Link scowled at the retreating goblins. As the door locked, they could hear their gravelly laughter slowly fade away. The blond breathed deeply a few times before conjuring their ball of light again. He looked at Hermione. "Thanks. I don't know what came over me." He said sheepishly.

She just nodded, still staring at the door. Suddenly she turned to look at Link.

"Let's make a pact."

"A pact?"

Hermione nodded. "A pact to help each other escape this prison. We can't stay here. Eventually Zoso will tire of me refusing to - uh - listen to him, and he'll tire of having you here. When he does… let's be honest, he'll probably kill us."

He raised an eyebrow at the last sentence. "Well you're optimistic." She shot him a dark look and he fidgeted slightly, "Sorry, uh, continue."

"We need to get out of here before he gets tired of us. If we help each other, we'll be able to escape twice as fast. What do you say, Link? Is it a deal?" She held out her hand to him.

Link nodded, a twinkle in his blue eyes. He took her hand and shook it. "Deal."

* * *

**Thanks to **ThePsychoFairy** for following, **Quaarus** for favoriting, and **zeldafanatic0555 BeastsRose23 mh21** and **UnattainableDarkAngel** for reviewing! **

**Also: What do you guys think about a Link and Hermione romance? Yay or nay? I'll probably do a poll on this later on but it's just something to think about for now.**


	7. Zoso finds It

**Chapter Six - Zoso finds It**

Several hours had passed since Hermione and Link made their pact to escape the cavernous prison. During that time, they ate their loaves of brown bread and drank their water. It took a lot of self-control to chew slowly and make the food last, since they didn't know how long it would be until the next time they'd eat. Afterwards, Hermione went right back to practicing her wandless magic. This time instead of summoning the apple core - which was beginning to rot and smell funny, so Link vanished it - she worked with the ceramic mugs.

"So I need to keep you hovering in the air while I speak," Hermione mumbled to herself as she struggled to keep the brown mug floating higher than eye level. "I need to concentrate on talking while simultaneously concentrating on-" the mug fell and broke. "Drat!"

"Hey, that was longer than last time!"

"How many seconds?"

"Fifteen."

"Ugh," she held her hand above the shattered mug and repaired it. "You were right when you said this takes a lot more energy than using a wand. I feel like I just did twenty pushups!"

Link burst out laughing. Hermione tried to keep a straight face, but it was nearly impossible to not be effected by his infectious giggling. She smacked his arm lightly and said, "Oh stop it! It wasn't even that funny!"

"I'm sorry," he said in between giggles. "I j-just - the mental image of YOU doing pushups!"

"Hey!" She feigned offense. "I can do pushups!"

"Really?" his laughter had died down and his eyebrow was raised. "No offense, but you seem more like a bookworm type of person than a sporty one."

"Oh, and you can do pushups Mr. I-bake-cakes-for-a-living?"

"Oi, baking may be my profession, but that's not what I do all day."

"What else do you do in your village, Link?" Hermione asked as she held the ceramic mug in her hand. "If you don't mind telling me, of course." She added quickly.

"It's fine," he leaned back against the stone wall. "When I'm not baking pastries for my business, I usually spend time with my friend, Wendi." He seemed to zone out a bit, smiling into space. "Wendi, Wendi..."

"Is she your girlfriend?" Hermione asked slyly.

That comment made Link deflate a bit. "Well… no," he said in embarrassment. "I mean… well, I haven't asked her yet and… wait, I've gone off topic."

The witch giggled at blond, who was blushing. "What does Wendi do in the village?" She asked, steering the conversation back in track.

"Wendi? She takes care of the horses in the stable. We used to have seven horses, but a few months ago a monster attacked the stable and, well, now we only have four."

"Oh no!"

"Yeah." he seemed really affected by the memory. "Luckily my horse, Epona, didn't get hurt. Had that monster taken my horse he would've felt my wrath." He shook a fist and growled playfully.

"What kind of monster was it?" Hermione asked, wondering if monsters in Hyrule were similar or different to the magical creatures of Earth.

"Uh, well, I didn't exactly see it…"

"You didn't? How's that?"

Link took on a look of shame. "I, uh… well, I accidentally overslept…"

Hermione rolled her eyes slightly, smiling nonetheless. _Men, I swear. If Ron had been in that situation, he probably would've overslept, too._ A sudden feeling of sadness washed over her at the thought of her best friend. _Friend? Don't I mean boyfriend?_

She immediately pushed that thought out of her head. "So, when you're not oversleeping and missing out on monster attacks," he winced at that, "do you ride your horse?"

"I take her out for a ride now and again. I actually haven't exercised her in a while," he grimaced. "Poor Epona. And now that I think about it, I really need to get her a new saddle…"

"Is there a market in your village?" Hermione asked, trying not to think about her friends and home. _I'll be back there, soon, not to worry Hermione!_ "Or do you have to travel elsewhere to purchase things for your horse?"

"Actually, Wendi does that sort of thing. She crafts saddles, makes spurs, reins, and all of that." That goofy grin returned to his face briefly. "Mayor Herr used to be the horse caretaker, but he taught Wendi to take over for him. Now he just focuses on his swordsmanship and being Mayor, of course."

"Swordsman?" Hermione was intrigued. "Are there a lot of swordsmen in your village, or is it just the Mayor?"

"Well," he ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sort of, uh, learning."

"Really?"

"You seem surprised."

"I'm sorry, it's just… a baker learning to be a swordsman." she giggled.

He chuckled, "I guess that is sort of funny."

There was a knock at the door. "Room service!" the familiar sound of goblins chuckling made the two of them scowl. Link vanished their source of light. The two sat in darkness as they waited for the goblins to torment them.

"All right, get up, girly." Hermione crinkled her nose at the smell of the goblin. She stood up on her own, not wanting the creature to grip her arm. "The King reminded us that people need toilet breaks, so you're first."

_Thank Merlin!_ Hermione sighed. She gave Link a small smile and nod as she was led out of the room. Right after that they slammed the door shut and locked it. The goblin turned around and gave her a hard look.

"Don't even think about running," he motioned his head to the goblin behind her. "Run, and he'll snatch yeh right up. Run and we'll 'ave to tell the King, and lemme tell yeh, Princess, 'e won't like that at all. Understand?"

Hermione nodded and the goblin started walking away._ I wasn't planning on running anyway, you great brute_, she thought. An idea struck her at that moment. _If I can make a trail of breadcrumbs… like Hansel and Gretel… then I'll be able to remember paths I've traveled..._ she glanced behind her and was startled to see the second goblin only an inch away from her face. _Merlin's whiskers, is he foul! And at that distance he'll catch me if I try and make marks on the walls…_ she bit her bottom lip in thought.

"Don't just stand there, get movin'!" he yelled at her.

"All right, all right, no need to holler in my ears." She scowled, annoyed. _And if I'm a Princess like you all keep telling me, then I'm going to take my sweet time walking to the loo,_ she smirked at that thought and marched forward, taking note of the direction they were going.

Glancing down at the rocky cavern floor, she noted that every now and again there were short stalagmites about the length of her forearm nearby other much taller stalagmites. Still walking slowly, she took a deep breath and tried her best to shrink the shortest stalagmite without completely stopping or making it obvious what she was doing. _Oh, I hope that it worked._ She wanted to turn around and look, but then the goblin would be suspicious. Well, he didn't seem to notice, otherwise he would've said something. If only I could get rid of him somehow…

The spell had tired her a bit, which told her she wouldn't be able to do that as often as she wanted. There were several groups of stalagmites rising from the ground, but she paced herself and shrank two stalagmites every minute. Not once did the goblin behind her make a sound, thankfully. The tunnel branched off into two different directions. In the left tunnel she could see a royal blue carpet covering the ground. They didn't go that way. The goblin led them into the right hand tunnel and Hermione shrank a stalagmite right by the entrance.

Hermione shrank four more stalagmites before they reached their destination, and by that time she really DID need to use the toilet. There was a wooden door in the left-hand wall that the goblin ahead of her opened.

"Wotchu waitin' for? Get in, then!"

Glaring at the goblin, she entered the small room, closing the door behind her. The first thing she noticed was the smell. She immediately covered her nose. Looking around the broom-closet sized room she wanted to scream. All there was in the room was a crude stone toilet, which didn't have a handle to flush and had no water in the bowl, and a stone sink. She was happy to find that water did in fact come out of the facet, meaning there was some rudimentary plumbing system at least. Under the sink was a bucket, which she figure she'd have to use to flush the toilets' contents away. Above the sink was a cracked mirror that she stared into.

"Some Princess, huh?" she said sardonically to her reflection.

A minute later, she was washing her hands with the tiny sliver of soap she managed to conjure that was no bigger than her thumb. Her heart rate was up and she had to breathe deeply to relax. _Who'd have thought it'd take so much energy to conjure just a slice of soap!_

Glancing in the mirror, she saw the remnants of blood on her face from when she got a nose bleed the first night - or was it day? - in the cell. With the remains of soap, she scrubbed her face clean._ It's like exercise in a way,_ she suddenly thought. _The more I practice, the more my magical core adjusts and the less energy it takes! Like a muscle…_ There were no towels to dry with, so she ended up having to use the inside of her robes to dry her hands and face.

Covering her hand with her sleeve, she turned the dirty door handle and opened the door. The goblins glowered at her in annoyance.

"Why does it always take the females so long to be done wif their business, Hyrnat?"

"That's just the way of the world, Vileep."

"Let's get goin', then. We still got to take the male out 'ere."

"Aw, right. Come on, girly."

The way back to the cell seemed to take less time than their initial journey. Hermione was pleased to see that she had indeed managed to shrink the stalagmites to the size of a salt shaker. _Great, it worked! Now, how to go about making a map..._

Once again Hermione found herself being shoved into her cell. She didn't fall to the ground this time, luckily. Before she could even smile at Link, the goblins grabbed him and dragged him out and slammed the door shut. Instead of being alone in pitch black darkness, Hermione saw that the goblins had forgotten one of their gas lamps inside the cell. She walked over and took it in her hands. Warmth emanated from the glass and she felt the heat travel up her arms. She closed her eyes with a sigh.

She went over the trail they traveled in her mind, creating a mental map. When she opened her eyes next, she put down the lamp and looked around for something to recreate the map with, but she found nothing. With a sigh, she sat down. _Maybe when Link returns he can conjure something…_ She closed her eyes, leaned against the wall, and rested. It wasn't long before she heard shouts and footsteps.

"You're goin' to regret that, peasant!" Hyrnat yelled before shutting the door.

"Link, what did you do?"

He scowled and brushed himself off. "I tried to grab a bracelet from his wrist and he slapped me silly." As he stepped into the light, Hermione saw that his lip was bleeding. "They dragged me the rest of the way."

"Do you think the bracelet is their source of protection?" Hermione asked.

Link sighed, "Now that I think about it, only one of the goblins had a bracelet… so no. If they're wearing something that's giving them magical protection, they'd all have the same thing."

"Oh, Link! I made a sort of trail from our cell to the bathroom. I was hoping you could conjure something that I can draw a map on."

"Hmm." Link thought for a moment and then conjured a roll of parchment, a bottle of ink and a quill. She briefly wondered where he conjured them from. "We can draw it on here."

"Great. I'll do it." Link handed them to Hermione and she recreated the map that was in her head. She was so focused on getting it just right that she didn't notice Link sitting next to her until he said, "What's that?"

"That's this room," she pointed at the square. "Those are the two tunnels that branch off from this one. The one on the right leads to the bathroom, which is this square here. I think the left tunnel leads to the royal hall, but I'm not sure." She bit her lip. "If Zoso summons me again, I'll make sure to remember where he takes me."

"Why does he summon you, anyway?" Link asked curiously.

_Uh oh. What should I say?_ "He thinks I'm someone who I'm not, and won't rest until I admit that I'm who he's looking for." Part of her felt guilty for the lie. _But I can't tell him. Not yet._

"There, done!" She held up her work in the light. "Where should we hide it?"

Link looked around the room briefly before pointing to a short but wide stalagmite. "I can shrink the map and hide it behind there."

Once she was sure the ink was dry, Hermione rolled up the parchment into a scroll and gave it to Link. He held a hand over the map and shrank it until it fit in his palm. Carefully he placed it behind the stalagmite, and took a step back. "There. There's no way they'll be able to find it now." He turned to look at her. "How about a little more practice?"

"All right," she grinned.

The witch sat down next to the lamp and smoothed her robes. _I wish I had a clean change of clothes… If Zoso orders the goblins to give us food and bathroom breaks, will we get baths or clean clothes?_ She wondered. She took a moment to focus on conjuring something small. Something from this world. Anything from my world would take too much energy.

Concentrating hard, she thought about sliver of soap still in the bathroom and whispered, "Conjurus." To her delight, she saw it appear in her hand._ Alright, now vanish it._

"Evanesco!"

It was gone.

"Good job, Hermione! How do you feel?" Link asked from across the room.

"I feel fine." She paused. "Earlier I conjured a piece of soap and it really drained me, but I think it may be because I conjured a specific soap from my wo- er, from England, which is really far from here. This time it didn't take as much effort."

"That makes sense, since this time you conjured it from the bathroom." He nodded in agreement. "Try conjuring some more things."

Hermione spent an hour conjuring and vanishing multiple things she had seen so far in Hyrule - and by Hyrule, mostly the underground Kingdom of Zubtera. At one point she thought about conjuring her wand, but decided against it. She didn't want to risk Zoso realizing what she was doing and summoning her again. The bucket in the bathroom, a rock, part of the carpet, and even a gas lamp were conjured and vanished multiple times before she started to feel her energy deplete.

It was during the time that Hermione was resting her face against the cool stone wall, eyes closed and mind in deep thought that she was summoned by Zoso. Again. _This is getting very irritating,_ she thought as she stood up and followed the goblin. During their walk she could only make mental notes of the path she was taking, too tired to properly shrink more stalagmites to mark her trail. She was right when she guessed that the left hand tunnel with the carpet led to Zoso's royal hall. With a sigh, Hermione entered the room alongside the goblins, shooting the wizard King a look of disdain.

"Ahh, how have my little friends been treating you, Zelly? Well?" He motioned at the three goblins surrounding her.

She gave him the silent treatment, ignoring the look of anger on the man's face. Hermione stared at the throne that Zoso was seated in. It was made of platinum and was covered with blue fabric and sapphire-like stones on the armrests. His black booted feet were resting on a platinum footstool, which also had royal blue fabric.

"Eyes up here, Zelly." He giggled obnoxiously, and Hermione had to take a deep breath to keep her temper at bay.

His green-yellow eyes gave her a piercing stare, as if he were trying to read her mind. _Oh bloody hell, don't tell me he's a Legilimens too!_ Her suspicions were confirmed when the corner of his mouth twitched. She immediately broke eye contact with him.

"Scared of what I might see, are we, Princess?" he snickered.

Before Hermione could respond, a young man with brown hair and stunning blue eyes ran into the room. He was wearing a brown tunic that had patches and holes everywhere, and dirty black boots that looked like he'd been running in mud. His ears weren't pointed like she had expected, and his skin very fair, almost pink. The young man dropped to his knees in front of Zoso and bowed deeply.

"Your Highness! Permission to speak?"

"Granted." Zoso looked slightly peeved that his meeting with Hermione was interrupted, but seemed interested in what the boy had to say.

"Sir!" he glanced at Hermione briefly before saying. "We found it!"

His eyebrows rose so high they blended in with his hairline, eyes wide like saucers. He jumped up from his throne. "They have?"

"Yes, Sir!" the boy stood.

"Well, tell me where, boy." He rushed past Hermione to the other end of the room, where she saw him yell at a goblin to get him his cloak. The goblin snagged a fancy black cloak from the coat hanger next to a realistic statue of a Hylian woman and put it on the King.

"At the Snow Peak!"

"The Snow Peak?" Zoso shouted in exasperation. "Boy if you're joking me, you're going to join Marsha here." He patted the statue on the rear.

"No, S-Sir!" Sweat was pouring down the boy's face he was so nervous. "That's where the Searchers found it, Sir!"

_The Searchers? Who are they? What is this 'it' they're going on about? Where's the Snow Peak?_ All sorts of questions were flicking through Hermione's mind as she watched Zoso harass the goblin who gave him the thin cloak and the nervous boy shaking in terror beside her.

"We must go immediately. Gather the Searchers an- FOR GODDESSES SAKE, QUEEGAL, I SAID THE FUR COAT. FUR. F-U-R, FUR." Zoso didn't give Hermione a second glance, completely focused on this so called 'it' found by 'the Searchers' at 'the Snow Peak.'

"I'll gather them right away, Your Highness." The boy bowed deeply again and ran out of the room.

"Fossie, take the Princess back to her chambers. Vileep, make sure the idiot boy doesn't accidentally go into the slaves quarters again and let them escape like last time."

"Yes, Your Majesty." They bowed briefly before scattering.

Fossie gripped Hermione's arm and pulled her toward the tunnel.

"Wait," Zoso waved his hand at Hermione and she felt herself freeze. There was a mischievous look in his eye that she didn't like one bit. Before she knew what was happening, Zoso planted a firm kiss on her lips. If she weren't under the effect of Petrificus Totalus, she would've broken his nose.

"I don't know how long I'll be gone, my sweet." He said in a husky voice that made her want to gag and vomit. "It may be months until we see each other again. I'll miss you SO much, my Zelda."

He patted her cheek and took several steps back until he was in the threshold of another tunnel. With a wave he said, "Farewell, darling!" Another wave lifted the spell from her, and then he disapparated.

The moment the spell lifted, Hermione fell down to her knees and dry heaved, but the contents of her stomach stayed stubbornly within her. She spat several times and wiped her mouth roughly with the back of her hand.

"Enough with the theatrics, Princess, let's GO." Fossie yanked her arm so hard he nearly dislocated her shoulder.

Hermione couldn't focus on memorizing the path they were going down. All she could think of was how violated she felt, _And all he did was kiss me. What if he tries it again… what if he- NO._ Her own brain wouldn't let her continue down that train of thought. The tunnel was a blur of orange light and dark grey walls as she tried to relax herself. As they neared the door, she suddenly remembered - the Snow Peak, the Searchers, the 'it'. Zoso leaving for months. What was going on?

"Don't just stand there like the King's statues, girl. Get IN." The goblin shoved her inside her prison. She tripped over his purposely outstretched leg and landed in Link's arms. "Pleasant dreams, pris'ners."

"Hermione! Are you-"

Hermione interrupted Link as soon as she heard the door lock. "Link! Zoso's leaving. He said something about the Snow Peak and The Searchers finding 'it', but I don't know what 'it' is. And-"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, Hermione. What about snow?"

She took a deep breath and described everything that occurred, minus Zoso forcefully kissing her. Link's face brightened slightly, probably at the thought of Zoso leaving, but he also seemed puzzled and concerned.

"I have no clue what's going on with these Searchers and whatever they found, but I know where the Snow Peak is. The problem is that I don't know where it is in relation to where we are." He sighed. "But I'm glad that Zoso's leaving. That means that our plan to escape will be easier to execute without having to deal with an experienced wizard like him."

"Link."

"Yeah Hermione?"

"I think our plan might just work."

"Yes. Yes it will."

Hermione leaned against the hard stone wall, suddenly feeling incredibly tired. Link seemed to read her mind. Without having to ask, he conjured two beautiful green quilt with designs of leaves and flowers woven into the fabric. He handed one to Hermione. She was about to ask, but he answered her question before she could speak.

"They're from my home in the village. See this earring?" He pointed to the green ring in his ear that she had noticed the first time she saw him but had decided not to ask about. "I have one at home, too. It surrounds me in a field of magic that allows me to easily conjure and vanish items that are within the borders of my house to my current location and back."

Her fingers ran over the soft fabric and gently traced over a beautiful violet rose. "That's incredibly handy, Link. I've never heard of such a spell. Where did you learn it?" She looked into his sky blue eyes.

"Well, uh" he ran a hand through his hair. "I sort of invented it."

"That's amazing." She wrapped herself up in the warm quilt which seemed to douse her in sleepiness. With a yawn, she rolled onto her side. "Can you teach me that sometime?" She asked, turning her head to look at him, eyelids struggling to stay open.

"Sure." He covered himself with his quilt in the corner across from her. "Goodnight Hermione."

"Goodnight, Link." She said softly before descending into a deep, comfortable sleep.

* * *

**Thanks to **Ramcharan, QuantumWings, Darkurai the Oracle Pony, The Pianist's Touch, Sonicthehedgewolf, jmwigington, mh21** and **Guests** for following, favoriting and reviewing, you guys rock! I don't know when I'll update next what with summer quarter starting and all, but hopefully it'll be soon. Feel free to review and make any comments or suggestions and thanks for still following :)**


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